We are not making this up

Here's an odd one, from the sports pages of yesterday's Daily Telegraph (can't find a link online, sorry). Citing reports, the paper says Michael Dell is mulling an investment in Newcastle United, the Premier League football club.

Indeed the Texan tycoon is "thought to be due to meet Newcastle's billionaire owner, Mike Ashley, for face-to-face talks in the near future".

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The "thought to be" meeting is "allegedly" brokered by Randy Lerner, the American owner of Aston Villa, and is "said to be" due to take place very soon.

More caveats than the small print on a Ryanair booking. But who knows, maybe the Telegraph has got the sniff of something, perhaps, and is thought to be keen to protect its source, or possibly, sources.

So will we see Michael Dell joining the Toon Army? Newcastle needs many tens of million of pounds to take a real shot at Man Utd and Chelsea. And Michael Dell does have many billions of dollars, some of which must be to spare. But he did not amass this wealth by being stupid.

So we think a shirt deal or stadium sponsorship by Dell the company is a more likely prospect than Mr. Dell extending his own philanthropic hand to Newcastle United's perennially disappointed fans.

And if we are wrong? We shall then cheerfully concede that one should never underestimate a bazillionaire's vanity. ®